Building Bridges
by Random Guise
Summary: This one-shot picks up two of the characters years after the events in the movie "The Bridge on the River Kwai". Everyone who has been to war comes out with opinions, but sometimes those opinions can change. I don't own these characters, but I've built a bridge out of Lego before.


**A/N: A short post-war follow up to the 1957 movie "The Bridge on the River Kwai".**

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Building Bridges

The older man sitting at the bar accepted the pint from the bartender. "Many thanks, Steve" he said as he took a long pull from the drink. "If I'm only going to drink one a day, I'm going to savor every drop for sure!" he said as he smacked his lips. He repositioned his stiff leg so it was now directly in front of him as he settled onto the stool.

A somewhat younger man who had been approaching sat beside him. "Is the beer good today?" he asked.

"It's always good. It was good before the war, it was good during the war and it's still good ten years afterward. The only bad beer is a spilled one" he laughed.

"I hear you, friend. The name's Reeves." The two men shook hands. "Where did you spend the war?"

"The name's Warden. I served in the Pacific. You?"

"Same. See much action?"

"My share, yes; lots of intelligence work, though. The last mission I went on gimped up my leg, and by the time I made it back to civilization they sent me to hospital and then a desk for the duration. How about you?"

"Not much. Engineer corps, and I got ordered to surrender when our unit was overrun. Spent most of the war as a POW, actually."

"Blasted luck. Still, we served however we could, eh? Nasty business those camps from what I'm told; I imagine you lost a few chums along the way."

Reeves nodded. "I did. Some right bastards too, but we were all on the same team either way. And just when the Japs finally moved us out of there, we were on a ship heading to their big island when the Yanks torpedoed us. Only a quarter of us made it out of the water."

"Blimey! I never heard about that."

"I'm not surprised; the momentum of the war was already turning against Japan at that point and what with the fight in Europe and all I don't think anyone really wanted to admit it. People and countries make mistakes in war, and no one wants to glorify them. Still, I made it out afterwards; God protects fools too" he smiled as he raised his glass.

Warden agreed, raised his and both downed another swig. "Did you work on anything big before you got caught?"

"Small stuff, mostly roads. The biggest thing I ever worked on was _after_ we surrendered. We ended up building a bridge used as a train trestle over the Kwai River."

Warden sputtered his mouthful of beer back into his glass. "You worked on that bridge? The one for the Burma railway?"

"The very same. I helped design _and_ build it along with a Major Hughes. They marched us away afterward and we never got a chance to see it used. I sometimes think it would be something to go see it now; a monument to the spirit of the British soldier."

"You won't be seeing it. I blew it up."

Now it was Reeves turn to sputter. "You?"

"Well, I led the strike team anyway. I was already wounded with this leg by the time we got to the bridge. Had help from some locals and a Yank that came from your camp; did you know a Commander Shears?"

"I met the chap when we first arrived; I thought he died in an escape attempt though. We advised him to stay of course, but he didn't have orders _not_ to escape like us so he legged it."

"He almost did die, but we got him and nursed him back to health; he volunteered to sortie with us back to the bridge. He'd probably still be alive if it wasn't for that dunderheaded Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson."

Reeves immediately stood up from his stool. "I, sir, take exception with that remark. Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson was many things, but a dunderhead he was not. If you insist on such slander I shall take my company elsewhere!"

Warden spoke quickly. "Please Reeves, sit down...perhaps I spoke hastily. Will you allow me to explain? Please." Reeves considered and sat down, unconvinced. More importantly, Warden noted, he set down his drink on the bar - a sign that he was at least willing to listen.

"Thank you. Let me give you some background. We in intelligence had gotten reports for some time about a railroad being built by the Japanese that would connect Bangkok and Rangoon. We knew that due to the geography in Burma that they would have to cross the Kwai River. From the reports of a few locals we knew the general location, and that POW labor was being used. In order to disrupt the supply lines for Japan, it was absolutely vital we destroy any bridge that was put up no matter how poorly built. When later reports indicated it was a very sturdy bridge and it was almost completed, they sent me and Commander Shears in with explosives to blow it up."

Warden took another drink and continued more slowly as he relived the experience in his memory. "It was an arduous journey, jungle and swamps and half of God's creation out doing its best to eat, bite or at least trip us as we made our way to the river and to the point where we spotted the bridge. We mined the bridge at night under cover, intending on blowing it up the next day before it could be used; if we waited until the train was close it would have forced it to backtrack all the way along the line to the previous station. During the night the water level had fallen, exposing some of the connecting wires to the charges. The prisoners marched across the bridge..."

"I was part of that" Reeves noted.

"...and I could even hear the distant whistle of the approaching train from my vantage point. We were going to blow the bridge before the train arrived, but this Nicholson spotted our wires and started following them back to our position. He prevented my man from using the detonator and called for help to stop us. Shears died as he went to assist in trying to set off the charges, and it was only at the end that Nicholson himself staggered a few steps and fell on the plunger that blew the bridge. We only meant to destroy the bridge, but the train carrying the Japanese troops and dignitaries plunged into the river with great loss of life. The whole thing drove that doctor - Major Clipton I think his name was - absolutely mad; he died wandering around in the jungle with complete disregard to anyone or thing and muttering about madness. So you see, in my opinion not only did Nicholson aid the enemy in the construction of the bridge, he almost prevented us from destroying it."

"I missed all of that when we got marched away" Reeves said after a long pause. "But let me start Nicholson's defense by asking a question: Have you ever been a POW?"

"No, thank God."

"And thank Him you very well should. It's more than just a 'nasty business' as you put it. Almost no food, long work hours, no medical treatment, and where we were there was virtually no chance of escape thanks to the jungle. A demoralizing situation if there ever was one, Warden. It's all too easy I think to die for God and Country, but it's another thing to barely live day after day knowing the odds of going back were infinitesimally small. But Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson was made of sterner stuff than that; he stood up for his men like no person I've ever seen. He suffered days being tortured in a hotbox rather than have his officers go against the Geneva Convention and manually work. He backed the camp Commandant, Colonel Saito, into a corner and finally got him to give in. He then came up with a plan to increase the moral of the men; our little bridge. He didn't look at it as helping the enemy, but rather as a way to keep the men not only together but to have something to live for. I'm sure that was his only motivation; he was an officer that followed the letter of the law, and when he told us that being ordered to surrender meant we shouldn't try for escape it was in our best interests. Yes, he did take temporary leave of his senses when he tried to stop the demolition of the bridge but from what you told me I believe he intentionally fell onto that plunger to blow the bridge as a final act of a good soldier; it would have been too easy to fall away from that device. I don't know if he would have chosen to blow up the bridge while the trainload of people was on it, but being mortally wounded I doubt he was even aware of it at that point; the plunger was his whole focus, I'll bet."

Saying his piece, Reeves sat and stared into his beer while Warden did the same. Both knew the best part of the war was the peace that followed, but it didn't lessen all the loss of life during the fighting. Each was moving the new puzzle pieces around in their heads that were Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson, but it was finally Warden that spoke first to break the silence that had enveloped both of them.

Raising what remained of his glass of beer, Warden said "In the end, I dare say it is better to build a bridge than to destroy one; in that spirit I propose a toast. One final toast to men like Lieutenant Colonel Nicholson; for we are all flawed, but it is truly the great among us who can rise above our foibles in the most trying circumstances to do what is needed. Let us pray that one day the world will have no need of such soldiers, and the bridges we build are of understanding."

"Here here," Reeves readily agreed as he joined the toast before both finished their pints.

The End

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**A/N: There was a movie made of the fate of the Burma POWs that Reeves mentions, but it was never released in the US due to legal squabbles. But the original is considered a classic even though they chose to whistle and NOT to use the colorful lyrics to the "Colonel Bogey March" popular at the time. It was a film that glorified the courage of soldiers while also pointing out some of the absurdity of circumstances that are war.**


End file.
